Correcting Love

Hello old friends, new followers and fellow bloggers-

Today was an amazing day. It was youth Sunday at my church and the theme was “never-ending love”, about the continual love of God. What I love about the love of God is that it exposes our wrong in hopes that we get right to move forward. Love does not delight in wrong, but celebrates doing what is right and living in truth. This infinite love that is given to all, delights in us recognizing our sin and then making an effort to be free from it. Can you imagine a father that never addressed his children when they do wrong. Can you? We would say that the father mentioned, did not truly love his kids. How can love someone but say nothing when you see their lives being destroyed? Love says…I love you so much that I’ll tell you the truth because at the end of the day, I want you to be better. People who sacrifice your purpose to spare you your feelings, do not love you. People who tell you what you want to hear, instead of what you need – do not love you. If God chastise those that He love, why wouldn’t those who represent God do the same?

I’m thankful for God’s chastisement, because even though it was painful at times- it got me out of my mess and made me a better person. Sometimes we can be so stubborn that God has to get our attention some way, and pain does just that- it gets our attention. I remember growing up and my mom would tell me not to iron clothes by myself, I was rather small and clumsy and she would warn me that if I iron by myself, there was a possibility that I could get burnt. “Wait on me and I’ll do it for you…” she would say. One day I remember wanting to be a big girl, I was eight years old and I felt like my mom was treating me like a baby. “I can do this by myself..” I said in my heart, as I made my trek to the ironing board. I plugged the iron in, took my shirt and placed it on the board. I reach for the iron but because I was too small to carry it, I dropped it and it fell on my wrist, leaving me with a burn scar that I have today. My mom looked at me, bandaged my wrist and kissed my forehead- but there was an issue that needed to be addressed: my disobedience. She chastised me and took away one of my favorite treats: ice cream. I learned that it was better to obey her voice than to disobey- pain came from my disobedience.

“For the LORD corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.” Proverbs 3:12

Sometimes God has to do the same with us, He has to remind us what is right and wrong. He does this through chastisement out of love. If God didn’t care about you becoming a better person, then you would have something to worry about but because of His love- like a good parent, He’ll go to the end of the world to get you back on course.